EXPERIENCING THE APOCALYPSE

A Christian author explores a complicated biblical text.

“John’s Revelation is the most misunderstood book in the Bible,” writes Harvey, so much so that Martin Luther and early Protestant leaders openly questioned its inclusion in holy Scriptures. In the last few decades alone, the text of Revelation has spawned multiple Christian-themed novels and movies (including the bestselling, widely panned Left Behind series) and a host of nonfiction works obsessed with uncovering contemporary figures and events within the book of Revelation’s cryptic symbology of a forthcoming divine apocalypse and end times. What many of these often evangelical preachers and authors miss, argues Harvey, is that the book of Revelation is “not meant to be a complex puzzle itching to be solved” whose “step-by-step list of…secrets will be decoded in due season,” but is rather a distinctly first-century document that cannot be separated from its historic and literary context. Rather than proof-texting the ancient work through modern theologies and post-biblical events, this book’s interpretation of Revelation is based on three core principles: considering how first-century Christian readers would understand its symbolic imagery; a familiarity with the “long-lost literary genre” of apocalyptic literature common in Near Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations from 300 B.C.E. to 300 C.E.; and, finally, a firm grasp on the Hebrew Bible, which John alludes to hundreds of times. After laying this methodological groundwork, the book’s 24 main chapters chronologically follow the major passages of Revelation from its introduction and descriptions of the apocalypse through its triumphant conclusion describing a new world where light triumphs over darkness.

Many of these core chapters deploy a novel approach to literary analysis, featuring pseudo-conversations in contemporary colloquial English between author Harvey and John of Patmos, early Christians, Jews, and Roman authorities, who provide their first-century perspectives on Revelation’s passages. This stylistic choice reflects Harvey’s desire to provide lay readers with an accessible, engaging book that includes an ample assortment of illustrations. Each chapter also concludes with “Questions to Consider,” making the book an ideal read for church book clubs or small groups. And though targeting an audience beyond biblical scholars, its approachable writing style is accompanied by a bibliography that reflects a solid grasp of the Roman Empire and its history. In addition to its nuanced approach to Revelation, which is refreshing in a Christian genre often dominated by zany takes, is the author’s constant reminders about the ultimate message of Revelation. In the context of the Roman Empire, which defined strength through brute military power and state-enforced violence toward noncompliant groups (including early Christians such as Revelation’s author, who was exiled to Patmos), the book of Revelation points to a final victory coming through a crucified “lamb” that prevails through “self-giving, radically-forgiving sacrifice.” Thus, while modern readers may be obsessed with Revelation’s brutal descriptions of “dark forces,” first-century Christians would have seen a message of hope in the eventual nonviolent spiritual victory over a seemingly insurmountable imperial military force.

An inspiring literary approach to the book of Revelation occasionally hampered by unwieldy dialogue.